Bhajana-rahasya: Chapter Two: Removing anarthas (Part 1)

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, my parama gurudeva, wrote the Bhajana Rahasya in Jagannath Puri in around 1900. It is a collection of verses divided into eight chapters, each chapter both related to one of the eight yāmas or "watches" in the day as well as an explanation of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Śikṣāṣṭa- ka, which is being explained as a progressive sādhanā, following Rupa Goswami's stage-by-stage analysis of progress in the bhakti path. Each chapter concludes with a verse from Krishna's aṣṭa-yāma lila, which is to be meditated upon at that particular time of the day. We now start the second chapter of the book.

Dvitīya-yāma-s- dhanā

Morning Bhajan:

Removing anarthas through association with devotees

(1)

The power of the Holy Name

There are no proper or improper times for chanting. The Holy Name possesses all powers. This is stated in the Śikṣāṣṭaka’s second verse—

nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija‑sarva‑śaktis

tatrārp- itā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ

etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi

durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

O Lord! You have invested all your personal potencies in your numerous holy names and made no rules about when one can remember them. So great is your mercy, my Lord, and yet I am so unfortunate that I have developed no attraction for Your names. (Padyāvalī, 31)

Krishna Das Kaviraj’s translation—

khāite śuite yathā tathā nāma laya

deśa-kāla niyama nāhi, sarva siddhi haya

One can chant the Holy Name in any condition at all, whether eating or lying down. There are no rules governing the time and place for chanting; one can attain all perfections in any case. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta 3.20.18)

Bhaktivinode Thakur: You are the ocean of compassion, and in order to deliver the living beings, You have appeared to teach Your innumerable names. In each of these Names You have placed all Your potencies and yet You have made no restrictions as to where or when they can be chanted.

The Holy Name is the most valuable gem. It is not different from You and yet out of Your great mercy, You distribute it freely throughout the world. How great is Your munificence! Bhaktivinode says: “How pitiable is my fortune, O Lord, for no taste for chanting these Names has arisen within me. My heart is full of distress.” (Gītāvali)

(2)

One should pray to the Holy Name to get a taste for chanting.

Rupa Goswami states this in his “Hymn to the Holy Name”—

aghadamana-yaśod- nandana-nandasūno

kamalanayan- a-gopīcandra-vṛndāvanendr- ḥ

praṇatakaruṇa-kṛṣ- āv ity aneka-svarūpe

tvayi mama ratir uccair vardhatāṁ nāma-dheya

You have so many different forms, O Holy Name, whether as Aghadamana, Yashodanandan, Nandasunu, Kamala Nayana, Gopi Chandra, Vrindavanendra, Pranata Karuna, and Krishna. May my love for You in all these forms grow forever. (Nāmāṣṭaka, 5)

Bhaktivinode Thakur— O Holy Name! You have taken so many forms: Yashoda-nandan (“son of Yashoda”), Gokula-ranjan (“pleaser of Gokula”), Nanda-tanaya (“son of Nanda”), Rasa-kupa (“the well of divine relationships”). You are Putana-ghatana (“the destroyer of the witch Putana”), Trinavarta-hara (“the one who stopped the whirlwind”), Shakata-bhanjan (“the breaker of the cart”), Gopal (“the protector of the cows”), Murali-vadana (“the player of the flute”), Agha-Baka-mardana (“the destroyer of the Agha and Baka demons”), Govardhana-dhari (“the lifter of Govardhan”), Rakhal (“the cowherd”), Keshi-mardana (“the chastiser of the Keshi demon”), Brahma-vimohana (“bewilderer of Brahma”), Surapati-darpa-vinashi (“crusher of the pride of the king of the gods”), Arishta-patana (“destroyer of the bull-demon”), Gopi-vimohana (“Enchanter of the gopis”), Yamuna-pulina-vilasi (“One who plays on the banks of the Yamuna”), Radhika-ranjana (“Pleaser of Srimati Radharani”), Rasa-rasayana (“One who brings relish to the Rasa dance”), Radha-kunda-kunja-vihari (“who plays in the forest bowers at Radha Kund”), Rama, Krishna, Hari, Madhava, Narahari (“lion amongst men”) the source of all incarnations like Matsya, Govinda, Vamana, Madhusudana, Yadavachandra (“moon among the Yadavas”), Vanamali (“wearing forest garlands”), Kaliya-shatana (“Chastiser of Kaliya serpent”), Gokula-rakshana (“Protector of the cowherd settlement”), Radha-bhajana-sukha-shali (“Who takes pleasure in serving Radharani”).

Bhaktivinode holds the feet of Rupa and Swarup Damodar, his one treasure, and makes this humble prayer: “May my enthusiasm to chant all these forms of Your name increase forever.” (Gītāvali).

(3)

Krishna has placed all His powers in His name.

As stated in the Skanda Purana—

dāna-vrata-tapas-t- īrtha-yātrādīnāṁ ca yāḥ sthitāḥ

śaktayo deva-mahatāṁ sarva-pāpa-harāḥ śubhāḥ

rāja-sūyāśvamedh- ānāṁ jñānasyādhyātma-vastunaḥ-

ākṛṣya hariṇā sarvāḥ sthāpitāḥ sveṣu nāmasu

Auspicious activities like charity, fasting, austerities, pilgrimage, and so on, are filled with potencies invested in them by the gods and saints and are thus capable of destroying all previous sins. The Supreme Lord has gathered up all these potencies, as well as those found in sacrificial performances like the Ashwamedha and Rajasuya, and the spiritual element found in the culture of knowledge, and placed them all in His own holy names. (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11.398-399)

Bhaktivinode –

dharma-yajña-yoga-jñān- e jata śakti chila

saba harināme kṛṣṇa svayaṁ samarpila

Krishna Himself placed all the powers found in religious duties, sacrifices, yoga and theological study in His holy name.

(4)

Chanting has no prerequisite of ritual purity or sacred time

As stated in the Vaiśvānara-saṁhitā—

na- deśa-kāla-niyamo na śaucāśauca-nirṇayaḥ

para- ṁ saṅkīrtanād eva rāma rāmeti mucyate

There are no rules governing time or place, purity or impurity. One can be liberated simply by loudly chanting the names, “Rama! Rama!” (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11.411)

Bhaktivinode Thakur—

deśa-kāla-śaucā- śauca vidhi nāme nāi

hare kṛṣṇa rāma nāme sadya tare jāi

There are no rules governing time, place or ritual purity when it comes to chanting the Holy Name. Simply by repeating the Maha Mantra, I shall quickly be delivered.

(5)

The signs of misfortune

These are indicated in the Bhagavatam (3.9.7)—

daivena te hata-dhiyo bhavataḥ prasaṅgāt

sarvāśubhopaśam- anād vimukhendriyā ye

kurvanti kāma-sukha-leśa-lavāya dīnā

lobhābhibhūta-manaso- kuśalāni śaśvat

O my Lord, the ears of those whose intelligence has been ruined by misfortune are uninterested in hearing about You, even though doing so could destroy all the inauspiciousness in their lives. As a result, these wretched creatures are overwhelmed with lust and greed and constantly engage in deleterious activities for the sake of nothing more than the insignificant and fleeting pleasures of the senses.

Comment: Your mercy is so great that everyone should take refuge in You. Who then are those who have become bound in the cycle of birth and death? Those who have been ruined by the misfortune resulting from offenses. They engage in deleterious activities (akuśalāni), which means both forbidden sinful activities and ordinary activities done with a purely selfish intent. (Vishwanath)

Bhaktivinode Thakur:

tomāra prasaṅga sarva aśubha karaye kharva

durdaiva prabhāve mora mana

kāma-sukha-leśa āśe lobha akuśalāyāse

se prasaṅge nā kaila jatane

To hear or speak of You, O Lord, destroys all inauspiciousness. But so unfortunate am I that my mind in its lust seeks only the fleeting pleasures of the senses, for which it readily makes great efforts. As such, it makes no attempt to hear or chant about You.

(6)

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It is further stated in the Bhagavatam, in the vision of Vyasa Deva—

bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite’male

apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam

yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam

paro’pi manute’narthaṁ tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate

anarthopaśamaṁ- sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje

Thus Vyasa Deva saw, in the mind controlled and purified by the discipline of devotion, the Supreme Person in His fullness, along with His external energy under His control.

Due to this external energy, the living entity thinks himself to be a product of the three modes of nature and thus suffers the anarthas or entanglements that are a result of his own deeds. These anarthas can only be ended by devotional service directly to the Lord beyond the senses. (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.4-6)

Comment: In this verse, the function of the material energy, Maya, is described. The Supreme Person is complete in Himself. When Vyasa Deva saw the Lord, it was as a result of practicing bhakti yoga with a pure heart. He had this vision of the Lord and, standing behind Him, Maya. The word apāśrayām means “behind.” This was, in other words, Krishna’s external energy. The jiva is transcendental to the three modes of nature (paro’pi), but due to the influence of Maya thinks himself to be a product of these three modes (ātmānaṁ triguṇātmakam). He thus is bewildered by the miseries (anarthaṁ) created by this illusory energy (tat-kṛtam). (Bhakti Pramode Puri Maharaj)

Bhaktivinode Thakur—

kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa-māyā jīva ei tina tattva

māyā-mohe māyā-baddha jīvera anartha

cit-kaṇa jīvera kṛṣṇa-bhakti-yoga-bale

an- artha vinaṣṭa haya kṛṣṇa-prema-phale

ei tattva nāma samādhite pāila vyāsa

bhāgavate bhakti-yoga karila prakāśa

Vyasa saw these three tattvas—Krishna, Krishna’s Maya, and the individual living entity--as well as the undesirable condition of the jiva who is bewildered and bound by Maya, and how the spiritual particle can rid himself of this undesirable condition by the strength of devotion to Krishna and attain the ultimate goal of love for Krishna. Vyasa understood all these truths when in the trance of the Holy Name. He then went on to reveal the process of devotion to the Lord in the Srimad Bhagavatam.